Chinese pharmaceutical group WuXi AppTec has said it is lobbying hard in Washington against a proposed bill that threatens its business in the US, where it generates 65 per cent of its revenues.“The company has been actively working together with its advisers to set the record straight and advocate for changes to the proposed legislation,” Edward Hu, vice-chair and chief investment officer, said in an analysts’ call on Tuesday following the release of full-year results.

US lawmakers have put the sector under scrutiny in relations with China and are seeking to restrict companies with federal funding from contracting with “foreign adversary” biotech groups of “concern” deemed to be a threat to national security. The so-called Biosecure Act has singled out WuXi AppTec and Chinese genomics group BGI for their alleged ties to the Chinese government. 

WuXi AppTec is a major supplier of essential ingredients to many of the largest global pharmaceutical companies and conducts drug development for them. It generated Rmb16.1bn ($2.2bn) in revenues last year from the 20 largest names and earned Rmb26bn — about two-thirds of its revenues — from the US, which is by far the world’s largest and most profitable drug market.